After Shrader received a breast cancer diagnosis, Garvens did whatever she could to help her out, including going to doctor appointments and sitting at her side during her final hospitalization.

"When she died, I realized I hadn't asked her any questions about her experiences with breast cancer," Garvens said. "She was the mom; she was taking care of me. She worried about me. She didn't talk about what she was going through."

Garvens wanted to find out. So she decided to ask women about their experiences, putting out the word through various breast cancer support groups her mother had ties to. The response was swift.

"People want to be heard," she said.

She ended up talking to 22 women, asking them how their diagnoses came to be, about treatment and fears, among other things. She talked to a few husbands and the child of a patient, too.

The interviews, coupled with her own experiences as a caregiver, served as source material for a solo show she will perform as part of AtticRep's Forum Theater Project, a series of shows exploring social issues.

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Garvens will perform the piece, "On Breast Cancer," at 8 tonight and Friday at the Attic Theater at Trinity University. Each performance will be followed by a panel discussion. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. Today's performance is sold out; reservations can be made for Friday by calling 210-999-8524.

Every penny raised will go to W.I.N.G.S., a San Antonio nonprofit that provides heath care to low-income breast cancer patients who otherwise wouldn't have access to it. The organization has helped more than 700 women since it began in 2000.

Terri Jones, founder and executive director of W.I.N.G.S., was one of several people who Garvens sought out for feedback on the piece as she was shaping it.

"She has done such a beautiful job capturing everything - the fear, the joy, the trepidation, the hope - she has just done a fabulous job with it," said Jones, who is also a breast cancer survivor. "But it's a tough sell. Even with my husband, who is involved with W.I.N.G.S. as much as I am, to say, 'Darling, we're going to sit there for two hours and listen to a story about breast cancer,' it's a tough sell. But you want to say to everybody that has that thought, 'It's not like that at all.' "

"I think this piece is really a celebration of women's resiliency and strength," he said, adding that if one woman visits a doctor or gets a mammogram as a result of seeing the piece, it will all be worth it.

During one work session with director Andrew Thornton, he asked Garvens to think about why she was doing the piece.

"All I wanted to do is tell people my mom was a really great gal," she said. "I want everyone to know how amazing she was. That's what I'm doing."

Garvens has continued doing interviews and can see the show taking on a life beyond the Forum performances.

"I still have people calling me, and I will call them back," she said. "I want to keep going. I don't want this to be over."